Are You Willing to Listen to the Lord?
1 John 2:12-17
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Series: The First Epistle of John
(Prepared November 29, 2023)
MESSAGE:
*Have you ever tried to talk to somebody, and they just weren't willing to listen? Oh yeah. Almost all of us have been there, -- maybe many times. Frustrating, right? Annoying. But I'm afraid we do the same thing to God. I know I have. And that's a terrible thing, because it hurts God, and it hurts us too. We all need to listen to the Lord, because He wants to speak to every one of us.
1. AND IN THESE VERSES, GOD SPEAKS TO US FIRST ABOUT OUR LIFE.
*This letter speaks to all Christians, and he speaks about every stage of our life in Christ. We can see this truth in vs. 12-14, where John said:
12. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
13. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.
14. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
*There is a lot of repetition in these verses, and some people may think it's needless repetition. But God never does anything without a good reason. And God's got something to say to every single Christian in these verses. He hasn't left any of us out.
*In vs. 12 John was speaking to all Christians generally, just as he did at the beginning of this chapter, and here John said, "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." Calling his readers "little children" was a term of affection, but it also points us to the fact that when we believe in Jesus, when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are born again as spiritual babies into the Family of God
*We first find this truth in John chapter 3. There Jesus was speaking to a Jewish ruler named Nicodemus, and in John 3:3-6 God's Word says:
3. Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.''
4. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?''
5. Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
*In other words: "People who are only born naturally only have natural life. But people who are also spiritually born again by God's Holy Spirit have eternal life in the family of God.
*John 1:12-13 also speaks about this new spiritual birth that can only come by believing in Jesus. There God's Word says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
*So when John spoke to "little children" here in vs. 12, he was speaking to every born-again believer in Jesus Christ. Christians: We are all included. Nobody is left out. And again, John said, "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." John takes us right back to the cross, the wonderful cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Jesus died on the cross for our sake, Christians, and our sins are forgiven for His name's sake. (1)
*But you know how new babies are. They are messy. And babies have a lot to learn. Years ago, Chinese pastor and author Watchman Nee told about a new Christian who was having a hard struggle with sin. This young Christian went to see Pastor Nee, and the man was in deep distress. The Christian said, "No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I'm losing my salvation!"
*I love what Pastor Nee then wisely told him, "Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained. He never makes a mess. He is obedient. He is a pure delight to me.
*Out in the kitchen I have a son, -- a baby son. He makes a mess. He throws his food around. He fouls his clothes. He is a total mess. But who is going to inherit my kingdom? Not my dog. My son is my heir." (2)
*And Christians, the Bible tells us that we are the children of God, and the heirs of God! 1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." On top of that, Romans 8:16-17 tells Christians that "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
*Church: We are joint heirs with Jesus! And God is our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so in vs. 12 John speaks to all born-again believers in Jesus Christ.
*Then in vs. 13-14 John addresses us in our different levels of Christian growth. Here John said:
13. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.
14. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
[1] LET'S START WITH THE "LITTLE CHILDREN" IN VS. 13.
*And it helps us to know that the original word for "little children" here is different from the word in vs. 12. This word includes children who have begun to grow, and that's what God wants all of us to do. That's why 1 Peter 2:2 urges us "as newborn babes, (to) desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." And 2 Peter 3:18 urges us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
*What does vs. 13 here say to us as growing children? "I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father." John is stressing the central truth that the heart of Christianity is a personal relationship with God. The heart of Christianity is having a personal relationship with God the Father through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
*That's why in Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The heart of Christianity is knowing God in a personal way. That's also why a few hours before the cross, in John 17:1-3 Jesus:
1. . . lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
2. as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
3. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
*John reminds us that when we trust in the Lord, we know God in a personal way. And this is not the only time John stressed this truth. We will see it two more times when we get to the fathers.
[2] BUT NEXT, WE'LL LOOK AT THE "YOUNG MEN."
*Here's what John said to the young men in vs. 13-14:
13. . . I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.
14. . . I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
*Here John speaks to the young Christians who have grown strong in the Lord, are full of God's Word, and have overcome our enemy, the devil. He writes to young Christians who are on fire for God. And don't you love to see young adults who are on fire for Jesus Christ! They are in the prime of life, and they are living for the Lord.
[3] BUT JOHN ALSO SPEAKS TO MORE MATURE CHRISTIANS WHO ARE CALLED "FATHERS."
*And John said this to the fathers in vs. 13-14:
13. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. . .
14. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. . .
*John speaks to some of us as fathers, because some of us have known the Lord for a long time, and have grown a lot in our Christian life. But nobody is left out here. God's got something to say to all Christians. He speaks about the forgiveness we have. He speaks about the relationship we have with God, and He speaks about the strength we can have in Him.
2. IN SHORT, GOD SPEAKS TO US ABOUT OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE. THEN HE SPEAKS TO US ABOUT OUR LOVE.
*We see this truth in vs. 15-16, where God's Word says:
15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.
*Here God gives us a strong command with a stark choice. This is not a suggestion. It's a very strong command. And there's no middle ground. There's no in-between here. We can either love the Father or we can love the world, but we can't love them both at the same time.
*Why? -- Because the world John talks about here is not the beautiful, natural world, and it's not the multitude of blessings God has given us through our families, our friends, and even people we may never meet. We know this because Psalm 33:5 tell us that "the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." And James 1:17 tells us that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
*But the "world" John talks about here is the evil world system under the control of Satan. It's the world the Apostle Paul was talking about in Galatians 1:3-5 where in the KJV he said, "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
*John Phillips explained that "the sense of this evil world system was human life and society with God left out. It was human life and society as organized by Satan and under his control. It's the same way John used 'world' in 1 John 5:19, where he said, 'We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.'" Phillips added this: "The world is the Devil’s lair for sinners and his lure for saints. Thus, the world is one of God’s enemies. It murdered His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, and it hates His people." (3)
*That is why vs. 15 clearly says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world." But what does it mean to "love the world and the things of this world?" John breaks it down for us in vs. 16 where he said, "For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world." These 3 categories cover every temptation we will ever face. And it's nothing new. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve committed the first sin. Genesis 3:6 says, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
*Eve was seduced by sin on the same 3 levels. The tree "was good for food." That's the lust of the flesh. The tree was also "pleasant to the eyes." That's the lust of the eyes. And the tree was "desirable to make one wise." That was the pride of life.
*And sin attacks us in the same three ways today. It's seductive. It looks good, pleasant, even harmless. Much like a little baby squirrel my wife Mary picked up many years ago. We were living in Monroe over by Forsythe Park. And one day one of our cats got hold of a baby squirrel in our front yard. It was unconscious when Mary picked it up, but still alive, so we put it in a little cardboard box in hopes that it would be okay. Poor, cute, sweet, little thing.
*About 5 minutes later, Mary picked it up again, but that time it was awake. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! That sweet, little baby bit Mary 4 or 5 times before she could even drop it. That's the way sin can be. It may look good and harmless. But if we pick it up, sooner or later, we will get bitten!
*Remember what Christian author Kay Arthur said about sin: "If you tolerate sin in your life, that sin will not only take you farther than you wanted to go. It will keep you longer than you wanted to stay. And it will cost you more than you thought you would pay." That's the sure truth, but Jesus Christ can help us overcome the world, mostly because He is God, and because of the cross. (4)
*Jesus can also help us overcome the world because He faced these same three temptations from the devil. In Matthew 4:3 the tempter went to Jesus and said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'' There the devil was trying to tempt Jesus with the lust of the flesh. And we can understand why, because Jesus had not eaten for 40 days and 40 nights.
*Then in Matthew 4:5-6, the devil took Jesus up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said to the Lord, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge concerning you,' and 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.''' That was an effort to tempt Jesus with the pride of life.
*And in Matthew 4:8-9, the devil took Jesus up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. And the devil said to Jesus, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.'' There Satan tried to tempt Jesus with the lust of the eyes.
*Every time the Lord was tempted He overcame them by quoting God's Word. And Jesus can surely help us overcome them too. So, the more we keep our minds on our loving, gracious, faithful God, the more we will truly love Him, and reject the evil things in this evil world.
3. CHRISTIANS: GOD SPEAKS TO US HERE ABOUT OUR LOVE. AND HE SPEAKS TO US ABOUT OUR LONGEVITY.
*We can see this truth in vs. 17, where John reminds us that "the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." Christians: This world is passing away. All of the evil, all of the lust, even all the beauty of this world is passing away. It's hard to wrap our minds around this truth, but this universe is only a temporary place.
*Hebrews 1:9-12 says this about Jesus:
9. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.''
10. And: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands;
11. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment;
12. Like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.''
*2 Peter 3:7-13 also says:
7. . . the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12. looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
*Those who love this present, evil world will be miserably disappointed forever. But those who love our Heavenly Father, those who do His will by receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will live forever.
*How long is that? Dave Atnip helped put it in perspective with this information: "A small ant travels at the speed of 1/17 of a mile per hour. The average distance from the earth to the moon is about 239,000 miles. If you could stretch a string from the earth to the moon, how long would it take for that ant to carry one grain of sand to the moon and come back? The answer is: 927 years.
*But how long would it take that same ant to move the whole earth to the moon, one grain of sand at a time? Our minds can't conceive how long this would be. But by the time that ant moved the whole earth to the moon, eternity would have just begun!" (5)
*Eternal life is forever! And we can't begin to measure all the good that's ahead for Christians. That's why Timothy Keller once said, "All death can do now to Christians is to make their lives infinitely better." And we have eternal life, if we have believed in Jesus Christ, if we have trusted in the Lord enough to receive Him as our Lord and Savior. (6)
*Morris Mott told about a man who said that for some reason as a child he thought of Heaven as a cold ominous place with a countless number of faceless angels. But as years went by, one of his brothers died. Then more and more of his family and friends went to Heaven. And toward the end, he lovingly thought of Heaven as the place where he knew more people than he did on earth. (7)
CONCLUSION:
*At the age of 72, I am much the same way. When I think of Heaven, I think of my Mom, my Dad, our son, Mary's parents, and a whole bunch of other wonderful people. But best of all, Christians, when we think of Heaven, we think of God! We think of God the Father, because He's the one who made Heaven possible for us through the cross of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
*That's who is speaking to us through His Word today: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May God help us Christians to really listen to the Lord. And if you have never put your trust in our crucified and risen Savior, I urge you to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior today. Call on the Lord to save you now, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) Sources:
-STRONG'S HEBREW AND GREEK DICTIONARIES - from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D. - Published in 1890; public domain. - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-THAYER'S GREEK DEFINITIONS - Published in 1886, 1889; public domain. - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-JOHN GILL'S EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE by Dr. John Gill, D. D. - 1697-1771 - Published in 1746-1766, 1816 - 1 John 2:12 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-BELIEVER'S BIBLE COMMENTARY by William MacDonald - Edited by Arthur Farstad - Thomas Nelson Publishers - Nashville - Copyright 1995 - "Stages of Growth in the Fellowship - 1 John 2:12-14 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(2) Sources:
-Sermonillustrations.com - Topic: Security
-SermonCentral sermon "Who's Your Daddy" by Guy Caley - John 8:31-45
(3) Adapted from EXPLORING THE EPISTLES OF JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Love of the World" - 1 John 2:15 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
(4) SermonCentral illustration contributed by Joel Vicente
(5) Sources:
-Adapted from Kerux Illustration Collection - ID Number: 22443 - SOURCE: Daily Bread (10/1/1999) - AUTHOR: Dave Atnip, Sr.
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_distance#
(6) MAKING SENSE OF GOD by Timothy Keller, 2016, p.166 - Source: "In Other Words" October 2018 #1 - produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net
(7) Adapted from SermonCentral illustration contributed by Morris Mott
